


and in the spring i shed my skin

by shibaan



Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Reunions, Sad with a Happy Ending, actually cried writing this rip i love jayfeather to bits, kind of, no beta we die like men, some symbolism with the eyes, takes a shot every time i write the word green
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-29
Updated: 2020-02-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:47:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22951228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shibaan/pseuds/shibaan
Summary: Jayfeather makes his peace.
Relationships: Half Moon/Jayfeather (Warriors)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 53





	and in the spring i shed my skin

The last thing Jayfeather felt was the imposter’s claws scoring through him.

He should have known. After all, it wasn’t like he’d seen Bramblestar as his father for the entirety of his kithood for nothing. He knew how he walked, how he carried himself. And the cat that had been stepping into his paws in the past few days was most definitely not him.

Something had changed when Shadowpaw had taken him to freeze out on the moor. It was as if StarClan had not just taken one of his lives, but one of the very things that made him whole. He'd died that leaf-bare, and even with the prey running aplenty again and the flowers blooming anew, Jayfeather knew that there had been a chill that set into ThunderClan the moment Bramblestar had awoken.

He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d called Bramblestar his father. Had it been during the Great Storm, when Squirrelflight had called him out on the heap of foxdung he’d made of their relationship? It hadn’t been like he’d cared to pretend to be their father once all the blood ties were severed- he’d found himself happy enough with Alderheart and Sparkpelt, anyways, and his newfound role as leader. As hesitant as he had been in the beginning, he took to it like a duck to water, and promptly forgot about the cats who he had been proud to call his kin. Jayfeather remembered a time once, when he had passed the nursery on his way to give Purdy some herbs to ease his joints- a pair of golden little eyes staring at him. It hurt too much to hold their gaze- the otherworldly understanding behind them that he had only seen in one other cat.

There would always be a funeral in his heart for Leafpool’s passing. But he would never forgive Bramblestar, would not give him the satisfaction of grieving for death of the last scrap of goodness Jayfeather had seen in his leader.

Jayfeather lifted his head, taking a deep breath of the crisp scent that he had familiarised himself with so many times before. Only now it was to be one of the most familiar things he would know from now on. The air grew heavy, his nose moist; even now with his sight, his other senses were just as sharp, and the tom looked up at the sky just in time to see the first raindrop fall. His ear flicked in irritation as a light drizzle followed soon after, incoming clouds moving lazily across the sky as if they had all the time in the world.

No matter. ThunderClan would manage just fine without him, he tried to convince himself- Leafpool, Briarlight, and the many others he’d lost were waiting for him. It wasn’t like he was still young enough to matter, anyways. The prophecy had passed, the three - or four, rather - had done their job, and they were in their twilight years now. Lionblaze’s kits had their own mouths to feed, and there would always be some smart young cat to handle whatever came up.

It was raining like mice and voles now. One would think that StarClan’s weather would be better than this. Jayfeather grumbled slightly as he sat up, shook his fur, and pressed on. The more he walked the more light he felt, giddy even- he couldn’t remember feeling like this since he was a kit playing with his littermates, green eyes and amber ones alike shining proudly as they watched him tumble around with a moss ball. He thought he could see those eyes shining in the distance, ready to welcome him amongst their ranks.

No, this was wrong. Lionblaze needed him. Jayfeather paused in his steps to dig his claws into the ground, finding twisted satisfaction in the way the brittle soil crumbled underneath them- and made his decision. He sighed and sheathed his claws, turning to go with one paw raised slightly above the ground.

But then he saw the one cat he never expected to see- and it took his breath away just as much as it had all those moons ago. Fur as white as snow and a bearer of one of the many pairs of green eyes that made his heart break. Half Moon, standing across the starry clearing on the other side of the slight dip in the earth between them. Even with the weather and the marshy ground underneath them, she still managed to look as resplendent as ever, not a patch of pale, faintly translucent fur out of place.

“Jay’s Wing?” her voice was quiet but somehow managed to carry across the distance through the rain, and he found his paws making their way towards her of their own volition.

It was a dazed walk at first, and then a run- he fumbled, still not used to the sight of his paws flying in front of him, and crashed into the molly. Jayfeather always held himself upright, never let his clansmates glean any weakness from their medicine cat, but he found himself not minding the clumsiness he had just shown. In fact, he relished it if only for the sweet _mrrow_ of laughter that came from Half Moon. She pressed her nose into his fur and Jayfeather entwined his tail with hers, feeling like he was truly home for the first time in moons. His paws were slick with wet soil and his fur was soggy but he found himself not caring that he felt like sodden crowfood. He simply didn’t have the strength to complain as a purr rumbled from deep inside him, burying himself in the silky refuge of Half Moon’s fur.

“You promised to come back for me,” she finally said, pulling back to look at him incredulously. “But it’s not yet your time. Why are you here?”

Jayfeather didn’t want to contend with having to face that knowledge, so he countered with a question of his own: “Why are _you_ here? I thought you were with the rest of the Ancients.”

Her expression shifted, now unreadable. “Things have changed amongst the stars. Borders have shifted, the boundaries between tribe and clan have been forsaken- oh, where do I even begin? But even with how happy I am to see you- you don’t belong here.”

“Only for a few moments,” Jayfeather promised gently, laying his head against her shoulder. “As long as I get to spend them with you.”

He stayed there for what felt like moons, the only sound to disturb the calm trance the steady thrumming rain had put him into being Half Moon’s breathing. The journey they had gone on together felt so very real, his life in ThunderClan almost a dream in comparison. This was the reality he needed, the thing he’d been waiting to wake up to all along, and he found himself desperate to cling onto it.

“You’ll have to go back you know,” Half Moon murmured sadly, though this time she did not pull away. “Your clan still needs you.”

“Soon, my love. Soon.”

-

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